Get the Most Advanced UML Features – And Save 50%, 70%, or Even 90% Over Competing Tools! For a limited time we’re offering special savings on Altova UModel. Combining a rich visual interface with superior usability features, UModel also includes high-end code engineering functionality to empower you with the maximum benefits of UML software development. […]
In an earlier post we discussed connecting to Microsoft SQL Azure databases with Altova DatabaseSpy and demonstrated database schema comparison and content comparison between a local database and the same database migrated to SQL Azure. In this post we will use a different method to migrate an existing table to SQL Azure and show you […]
Tips and techniques to ease introduction of Microsoft’s cloud-based SQL Azure database into production environments led the topics in June at the Tech-Ed conference in New Orleans. SQL Azure is built on Microsoft SQL Server technologies and is designed to provide a highly-available and scalable database service hosted by Microsoft in the cloud. Developers who […]
More and more users are storing XML documents in database columns, especially when XML data is sent or received from other entities. Storing data in XML helps enterprises more easily accommodate revisions to industry-standard data formats as XML Schemas evolve over time. One challenge in migrating from a relational database to an XML-oriented database application […]
A new feature introduced in UModel 2010 release 2 allows you to split large sequence diagrams when you reverse engineer existing Java, C#, or Visual Basic source code. What are the advantages of splitting a sequence diagram, and how should you decide to split or not? Obviously, a single diagram makes it easy to examine […]
Earlier this month in our blog post on Comparing XML Schemas we showed a realistic – but simplified – example to illustrate a slick new feature of DiffDog 2010 to compare XML Schemas and update corresponding XML data files by generating XSL transformations. A real-life XML developer’s project is rarely as small and straightforward as […]
We always enjoy meeting developers who currently use Altova tools and others with projects our tools can help them complete. This year’s PDC in Los Angeles was no exception – great weather, great camaraderie, and a brand new Version 2010 of the Altova MissionKit to demonstrate and talk about. Below is our short YouTube video […]
A recent message on Twitter asked whether DiffDog can create a differences report. The short answer is yes! In addition to its renowned directory compare and merge, file compare and merge, database compare and merge, and XML diff merge functionality, Altova DiffDog can create differences reports for directory comparisons and for file comparisons. After you […]
Previously in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series we applied Altova UModel reverse-engineering functionality to create UML diagrams for an ATM banking simulation application. After analyzing the existing architecture, we planned and implemented a new feature, the withdrawal fee. Even in a reduced size, our updated sequence diagram for […]
In Part 1 of this series we imported source code into Altova UModel to create a UML project and we examined a class diagram of our legacy ATM application. In Part 2 we created a series of UML use case diagrams to describe user interactions with the system and we planned an application enhancement to […]
In Part 1 of this series we applied the reverse engineering functionality of Altova UModel to import source code from an existing ATM simulation application. We created a UML class diagram to illustrate the application’s class hierarchy and class relationships. In Part 2 we drew a UML use case diagram to document user interactions with […]
In Part 1 of the Analyzing a Legacy Application series we introduced our ATM simulation app, imported the Java source code into a UModel project, and refined a class diagram to see an overview of the application classes and their relationships. In this entry we will create use case diagrams to document the current functionality […]
We’ve just launched the third video in the DatabaseSpy series. Exploring Databases is a tour of the DatabaseSpy Online Browser, a powerful tool for viewing, searching, and analyzing one or more connected databases. Exploring Databases builds on the preceding video, Database Connections, which demonstrated how easy it is to use DatabaseSpy to connect to one […]
Sooner or later nearly every professional developer will be assigned to debug or add features to an existing application the developer did not help create. In these situations, inaccurate or incomplete documentation and lack of access to the original development team can pose huge obstacles. Fortunately, Altova UModel can reverse-engineer existing software to create a […]
We’re expanding our Flash video series to cover DatabaseSpy, Altova’s multi-purpose database utility. Available to view now, the first DatabaseSpy video is a two-minute introduction that quickly highlights many DatabaseSpy features and shows off its elegant and fun-to-use interface. If you have ever wondered how a multi-database query and design tool can help with a […]
We’ve just uploaded a new Flash video in the UModel UML modeling series titled "Round Trip Engineering." The Round Trip Engineering video describes how to move your software modeling project ahead either by working directly in the source code or by expanding and refining your UML model, while keeping both the code and model in […]
Since its release in 2005, the Altova marketing team has been actively using the DiffDog diff / merge tool to compare and merge changes on our Web pages (something Product Marketing Manager David McGahey likes to call “eating our own dog food.” Get it? Dog food? Anyway…). We create and edit our content directly in […]
“Ninety percent of the time you just need to make a simple modification,” the Redmond Magazine reviewer wrote in the introduction to the recent review that selected DatabaseSpy as Redmond Roundup Champion among database tools. DatabaseSpy lets you make those quick updates with its intuitive interface that is consistent across multiple database types. For the […]
RedmondMag.com just published a great article by Peter Varhol, a principal at Technology Strategy Research LLC, an industry analysis and consulting firm. This “Redmond Roundup” discusses common database management tasks and reviews some of the tools that are popular in that space: Sometimes you don’t need a full-fledged database-management environment. Maybe you just need to […]
The most valuable input the Altova team receives is from our customers and potential customers. This feedback shapes our future development plans for improving our tools and adding new features and functionality. We receive this feedback in multiple ways: by interacting with users at industry events, through comments on this blog, through customer case studies, […]
Agile development is quickly becoming a leading model in the forward-thinking software community. The agile method seeks to bring development out of the document-heavy rigidity that exists within architecture-centric projects with a flexible and lightweight alternative that focuses heavily on adaptivity and customer communication. The agile model seeks to reduce the vast amounts of paperwork […]
The Altova UML tool for software modeling and application development keeps getting better and better, with recently launched UModel Version 2008 Release 2 adding exciting new features including support for business process diagrams in BPMN notation, code engineering support for Java 6.0, C# 3.0, and Visual Basic 9.0, diagram layers, enhanced auto-completion, and much more. […]
We’re excited to have recently announced the availability of Altova MapForce Version 2008 Release 2 (v2008r2). The latest update to the MapForce graphical data mapping tool provides powerful new functionality, including support for mapping Microsoft® Excel 2007, which uses the Office Open XML (OOXML) file format, integration with and project generation for Visual Studio® 2008, […]
National Frozen Foods Corporation, a family owned company, works with many vendors to get their products from the warehouse out to the market. Communications between the warehouse and vendors are sent via the X12 dialect of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), a standard data format for business transactions. The company had been using the EDI format […]